SIMON LOVESTONE, B.SC., B.M., PH.D.

GLOBAL HEAD OF DISCOVERY AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

Simon Lovestone, B.SC., B.M., Ph.D., is Global Head of Discovery and Translational Research for Janssen Neuroscience, where he leads the global Johnson & Johnson teams seeking novel therapies for neurodegeneration, neurology and neuropsychiatry.

Before joining Janssen, Simon was a Professor in Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oxford where he co-founded the Oxford Dementia Drug Discovery Institute and before that in Old Age Psychiatry at King’s College London where he was also Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Director of R&D at King’s Health Partners.

His research interests include the identification of new targets for therapy in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders through the understanding of basic mechanisms and clinical translation through experimental medicine and biomarkers; all this work underpinned by the use of Big Data ranging from molecular through to clinical information derived from electronic medical records.

Simon earned his bachelor’s degrees in Microbiology from Sheffield University and in Medicine from the University of Southampton, a Master of Philosophy in Clinical Research in Psychiatry and a doctorate in basic Neuroscience from the University of London and, until recently also practiced as a clinician in Old Age Psychiatry. He was Knighted for services to neuroscience in 2017 and will be awarded an honorary degree by his alma mater, the University of Sheffield, in January 2022.